Staff Blogs

Kansas 3-point shooting needs to travel better

Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) and Kansas guard Frank Mason III stand side by side during a pair of free throws in the second half, Thursday, March 9, 2017 at Sprint Center.
by Nick Krug

Lacking the low-post scoring it has most seasons, Kansas has relied more heavily on 3-point shooting than at any point during coach Bill Self’s 14 years at the school and with good results.

Kenpom.com tracks various statistics through the years, including a “style component” that shows what percentage of field goals attempted are of the 3-point variety.

The percentage has been below 30 in eight seasons, above it in six. This season’s 35.5 percent mark is a high, during Self’s tenure, compared to a low of 26.1 percent in 2006-07, a year that ended in San Jose with Kansas losing to UCLA in an Elite Eight game. Last season’s 32.8 percent had been the high mark.

The 3-pointer has served Kansas well this season, with a .405 percentage that ranks eighth in the nation.

The question now becomes will the Jayhawks’ 3-point shooting touch travel well? Thus far, KU has not shot nearly as well away from Allen Fieldhouse (.358) as on campus (.454). Kansas went 14-3 away from Allen Fieldhouse, so the Jayhawks still found ways to win when treys weren’t falling, but the home/away shooting disparity does underscore the importance of playing consistently strong defense throughout the tournament.

In four games in Sprint Center, site of the NCAA Midwest regional, Kansas shot a combined .311 from 3-point range against UAB, Georgia, Davidson and TCU.

A look at individuals' shooting percentages in games played off campus this season and (overall):

Josh Jackson: .463 (.377)

Frank Mason: .392 (.487)

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk: .382 (.401)

Lagerald Vick: .317 (.383)

Devonte’ Graham: .292 (.379).

Mason and Graham have the most NCAA tournament experience. Mason, although he made 5 of 7 3-pointers in the tournament as a sophomore, is a .292 3-point shooter in the NCAA tournament for his career. Graham has shot .346 from long distance in the tourney.

Comments

Pretty simple explanation really. At home, you're familiar with the rims and you use your own balls. On the road you have to adjust due to the rims performance and you've also got to play with the home teams ball. All balls have to be the same size and inflation, but the brand difference can change things as well. I've noticed as well that some rims are quite a bit more rigid in some gyms. It's no different than a hitter in his home park in baseball or a kicker in his own stadium in football. It's comfort level.

Yep, and no team in the tournament is playing on its home court, but my guess is because Allen Fieldhouse is such a greater home-court advantage than most, most schools don't shoot 10 percentage points better at home than away from home. Don't have the numbers on other schools. Anybody know of a website that has those numbers? ... Davidson game, by the way, is counted as home, but I did Allen Fieldhouse and away from Allen Fieldhouse, so for purposes here, I put it in away from Allen Fieldhouse category.